[Dailydrool] Joining the Drool

[Mary Wilson]

Such a pleasure to read stories from old friends — old friends separated by
distance and the minor difficulty of never having actually met, but joined
by a love of short, goofy dogs. And by a commitment to helping each other,
too. So many people on this list have provided me with great guidance! Bev…
the not-at-all-clueless Momperson Dale… and dear Debbie Winchester, gone
far too soon, among others.

I joined in about 2006, I think. We had Paddi B Basset (or as she was more
formally known, Sunset’s Descanso Princess), who came from a breeder in
British Columbia, where we live. Paddi B Basset was the single healthiest
dog I have ever met. She was sick … well, honestly, never. We adopted her
(I hate to say purchased, though we did indeed) in 2004. She seemed lonely,
so when Bill (later Billy B Basset) appeared on the local SPCA website, I
convinced my family that he had to join us.

Billy was the absolute opposite in health to Paddi. He was a beautiful,
beautiful dog — strong, athletic, and beset by every imaginable health
problem. We struggled mightily with him, and as I was looking for health
advice I found the Drool. All the good advice in the world couldn’t save
him — he broke my heart when he left us at just four years old.

Paddi did not like being an only dog, so next up from the local shelter
came Vernon Q Basset. The “B” has always been for Basset. Paddi was
originally and almost always Paddi Basset, then Paddi B, then Paddi B
Basset. Vern was just called Vern when we got him, but that seemed
insufficiently grand, so Vernon Basset it was. The middle initial, Q?
That’s because he was a Basset of Mystery. The shelter knew next to nothing
about him. He was about eight.

Vern lived to be around 14 or 15, and Paddi almost made her 17th birthday,
but not quite. At one point we had Vern, Paddi and Simba, a wonderful
Formosan Mountain Dog.

I adored them all. And now I am houndless, and in fact dogless. I lurk
shamelessly on the Drool because i am convinced there will be another hound
in my future. Said hound will have to be fond of cats, since I just
acquired four. Said Hound will also have to adapt to having a middle
initial, and be ready to bring laughter and love to the house — but that
won’t be a problem. And now I’ve written a book. Arentcha glad i don’t post
more?

Mary, waited for at the bridge by Paddi B Basset, Billy B Basset, Vernon Q
Basset, and Simba, the wonderful foster success, and many others.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20220202/146add1f/attachment.htm>